PESHAWAR, Aug 30: NWFP Governor Khalilur Rehman has stressed the need for fighting extremism in all its forms and promoting a culture of tolerance and reason in society which is suffering from poverty and illiteracy.

He said that writers and intellectuals could steer people out of the present social crisis and lead them towards a bright future.

The governor was speaking on Tuesday at a literary gathering organized by the Academy Adbiyaat Pakistan to launch a book on the life and works of Khushhal Khan Khattak, translated from English into Urdu by Professor Iqbal Naseem Khattak at the Peshawar Press Club.

The book is a research work of Khadija Ferozuddin, completed on the advice of Dr Allama Mohammad Iqbal in 1940.

This is the first comprehensive book on the life and works of Khushhal Khan as it encompassed every aspect of the great Pashto poet.

The governor said that Pakistan has achieved progress in different fields and is now moving towards a liberal democratic society. But he said the country is still facing challenges on the global front. “If extremism is allowed to overcome every aspect of life, it will play havoc with the very existence of the country. The government is doing very well, but it alone can overpower social and political vices. It is the duty of intellectuals to come forward and lead the nation in the right direction,” he said.

He paid rich tribute to a Ms. Khadija who had travelled from Punjab to the NWFP’s remotest villages some 65 years ago and had gathered oral and written material about Khushhal Khan Khattak. The woman interviewed people about the life and works of Khushhal Khan Khattak and brought out an authentic book on the poet and his poetry.

He said he would try to track down the grave of Ms Khadija and get her mausoleum constructed in order to pay her homage.

He thanked the translator of the book, Dr Iqbal Naseem Khattak, for preparing its Urdu version and Iftikhar Arif, chairman of Academy Adbiyaat Pakistan, for releasing funds for the purpose. He expressed hope that the academy would also publish the original English work of the late Khadija Ferozuddin.

Prof Mohsin Ehsan spoke about the life of Ms Khadija, whose father was an employee of the education department and was posted in Bannu some 67 years ago. She visited a number of villages and towns, including Jalozai and Akora Khattak, and met people of the Khattak tribe who were direct descendents of Khushhal Khan.

She also took advice from Allama Iqbal, who versified some of Khattak’s poem in his Bal-i-Jibrael.

Prof Ehsan asked the government to establish an academy for the promotion of Hindko language and culture.

Iftikhar Arif said the promotion of regional languages was the main task of the academy and it had published eight volumes in Urdu prose on the poetry of Khushhal Khan. He said that creative works in the regional languages were colourful patches of one national culture.

He requested the NWFP governor to provide a plot of land for the permanent office of the academy in Peshawar.

Dr Salma Shaheen, chairman of Pashto Academy, Abdullah Jan Abid and Prof Iqbal Naseem Khattak also spoke on the occasion.